Mike Lee

NEWPORT NEWS — In a backyard overlooking Hampton Roads Harbor Monday afternoon, Virginia's campaign season unofficially began — at least in Democratic circles. U.S. Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, hosted his 38th annual Labor Day Picnic at his family home in southeast Newport News. The event, which started way back when Scott made his first bid for the state House of Delegates, signals the beginning of the whirlwind political season when candidates pitch themselves to the Virginia public. It was a scorcher across the state Monday. The National Weather service reported high temperatures of 96 degrees in Newport News, with a heat index around 100....

House Speaker John Boehner brushed aside a challenge to his tenure on Wednesday as the work of a lone dissident Republican amounting to "no big deal." He said the effort by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina to strip him of his powerful post...

WASHINGTON If the Senate's old guard has its way, the campaigning from the Senate floor would end. But don't bet on it. "We must ensure that the pernicious trend of turning the Senate floor into a forum for advancing personal ambitions, for...

WASHINGTON Senate Republicans are looking to vote on defunding Planned Parenthood before leaving the Capitol for August recess. It's an effort that is unlikely to be much more than a procedural or show-vote given that they only control 54 seats in...

WASHINGTON After 35 years as a couple, Dava Weinstein and Dorothy Calvani, 66, traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2011 and got married. When they returned to New York City, Weinstein, 69, wanted to add Calvani's name to her apartment lease as a...

A bipartisan push to reduce the number of low-level drug offenders in prison is gaining momentum in Congress, but proposals may disappoint advocates hoping to slash the mandatory minimum sentences that are seen as chiefly responsible for overcrowding in...

WASHINGTON The party of lock 'em up has morphed into the party of let 'em out, as some Republicans claim they've outpaced President Barack Obama when it comes to efforts to overhaul what they consider a prison sentencing system that mandates too much...

WASHINGTON Reducing federal sentences for nonviolent drug crimes will save taxpayers money and help minority communities, President Barack Obama said, citing support on the issue from Republican presidential contender Rand Paul. The president has...

WASHINGTON The White House is preparing to seize advantage of bipartisan concern over the burgeoning U.S. prison population and push for legislation that would reduce federal sentences for nonviolent crimes. President Barack Obama is expected to...

The trend that worries conservative thinker Sabrina Schaeffer is this: Three elections ago, nearly half of all working mothers chose George W. Bush. In 2008, the share dropped to 40 percent for Sen. John McCain. By 2012, only roughly a third backed Mitt...

Congress gave final approval Tuesday to the most sweeping rollback of government surveillance powers in the post-Sept. 11 era, clearing the way for a new program that bans the National Security Agency from collecting and storing Americans’ telephone...

When it convenes Jan. 6, the Republican-controlled 114th Congress will bring a wave of reinforcements to enhance the clout of President Obama's antagonists.
But it remains to be seen whether that will set the stage for two years of continuing conflict or...

The Senate moved closer Friday to passing a $1.1 trillion bill to fund almost all of the government through most of 2015. But detractors on the left and the right were likely to delay final approval of the sweeping measure.
The opponents, who have been...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill, who are holding up a government spending bill in an attempt to eliminate money for the healthcare law, not to “threaten to burn the house down simply because you haven’t gotten 100% of your...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Friday approved a government-funding bill stripped of a Republican-backed provision to block money for President Obama’s healthcare law, sending the bill back to the GOP-led House with just days left before a possible...

WASHINGTON – The GOP-led House approved a spending bill that would strip President Obama’s healthcare law of its funding, setting up a confrontation with the Democratically controlled Senate that risks causing the first shutdown of the government in...

WASHINGTON – The GOP-led House approved a spending bill that would strip President Obama’s healthcare law of its funding, setting up a confrontation with the Democratically controlled Senate that risks causing the first shutdown of the government in...